It's Here!

I finished my homework around 3am and finally got to sleep, only to be awakened by my daughter around 7:30 wanting some cereal and to watch some Dora the Explorer. Lets just say that I am barely functioning right now, but I have enough energy/adrenaline left over from my excitement over my case coming. My daughter really wanted to play with the case so she is in most of the pictures. Well lets get this party started. 

Here are some overall pictures of it closed. I was glad when I took it out of the box and it was a true desert tan color and not yellowish like other tan colors. I hope the pictures do the color justice because the ones online are atrocious. 

I knew this was going to be big but dang is it big. I am glad though because I have my rifle, shotgun, and two handguns to put in it. Like I said before I really like the color and it feels good to carry. The handles are nice and don't put too much stress on the hands and the main handle is wide enough to grab it with two hands when setting it up on something high. The wheels roll smoothly and I doubt I will have any trouble getting this thing around.

Ok here are some pictures of the foam inside before I cut it all up. The foam is very rigid, but it isn't like closed cell foam. I would say that it is stiffer than normal upholstery foam, plus there are three layers of it which will protect whatever I put inside the case.

The last picture I have the middle foam layer out because I had already started cutting, but depending on how thick your guns are, you could leave out the middle layer and put your stuff in loose and it will get squished between the top and bottom foam layers. 

Ok, so once I got everything arranged how I wanted it in the case, I reversed everything because after I outline and cut it I don't want the outlines showing. When you outline stuff they recommend using chalk but I used a sharpie and you are supposed to cut inside the outline.Once you finish cutting you flip it over an you have your cutouts minus the outlines. So here is a picture of the finished foam. You can see the electric carver in the background. It worked out okay but it was a little hard to make turns with it and to stay perpendicular. I will say that it doesn't look very professional like, but maybe down the road when I have a larger collection of guns, I will go back and order new foam and make a hot wire cutter. For now it looks great to me and does what it is supposed to do.

I managed to fit in all my guns and I even have room for growth (red dot/low power scope). It took around 20 minutes to cut everything out and I have all the cutouts because I can reuse them if I want to change up the arrangement. All you do is put the cutouts back in where they go and put the cut layer on the bottom and use the bottom layer as a new canvas, or glue the pieces back in and make that the new top layer and use the top layer as the new canvas.

Here is the finished product with all my guns in it. They fit pretty snug and they definitely aren't going anywhere. I might have to shave off some of the top layer for the side saddle on my shotgun and my earmuffs.

I will tell you that with this thing fully loaded it is a beast! I think the empty weight is around 24 lbs, but with the addition of 4 guns it got a lot heavier. But that is no big deal because the handles are nice and it has some great wheels on the bottom. I am very satisfied with it so far and I can't wait to use it on some future outings. I think I am going this weekend with a buddy of mine who is a local sheriff, so I might be going to the police range which would be amazing. 

One last set of pictures and then I am done. Because this thing is so big there is a lot of real estate for stickers and whatnot. So being that I got some with my AR parts, I think I am going to coat this baby with a generous helping of stickers. I only have a few right now, but there is a gun show coming up that I want to go to just to get stickers. I am pretty set with gun stuff already so it will be fun to go and look at everything and be on the hunt for some good stickers.

Up late and need a break...Gun Case!!

Well I am up late doing some homework that should have been done last week. It hasn't sunk in yet that I can do homework days before it is due. Anywho, my brain is hurting and I need a little break and there isn't anything better than talking about gun stuff. As you know I have just finished building my sweet AR. I took it to an indoor range last weekend to test fire and break in the barrel, and that was a great experience. I was a little bit nervous about it because it was a built gun from a bunch of individual parts and it was my first AR build. I loaded it up and it performed better than I could have dreamed. I only shot around 40 rounds, but it was enough to break in the barrel (which really wasn't necessary because it was lapped at the factory).

Well now that I have this beautiful gun, I can't just have it resting against my dresser. I already have my shotgun there ready to go if there are any unwanted guests in the house, but that and the AR is just too much for that corner. I was looking at some gun safes at the store the other day and realized that I didn't even have a good range case to take it to and from the range. So I decided I needed something that could function as a range case and something that I could lock up. I have heard great things about Pelican cases and so I ordered one. It is their Pelican 1750 double long gun case. It should be coming this afternoon according to UPS's tracking info, so once it gets here I will post some pictures. I got the desert tan version rather than the black one because I wanted something a little bit different, and who knows, maybe down the road I will have a black/tan gun. It comes with 3 layers of solid foam and I am very excited to cut it to fit my guns.

This case should be big enough for me to pack away my AR, Mossberg 500, and both handguns minus magazines. I was debating on whether or not to put those in there, but they are going to be with my ammo/tool bag. I have been looking online for some how-to's on cutting the foam and the most popular method is spending around 50 bucks and making a hot wire scroll saw looking thing. Well I am definitely not going that route because I have already spend a lot on the gun and this new case. I also saw a few people use an electric carving knife and it looked like it worked very well. And as luck would have it we got one for Christmas! Yay for random kitchen appliance gifts! Well I think that is about all the time I have to dink around before I need to get back to work.

Pictures to follow!!

Finally done!

After waiting for all the parts to get here and some last minute issues I am glad to say that everything is installed and I have a complete rifle now. This past Wednesday is when the last parts came in and the build could begin. I wanted to start out slow and steady because I didn't want to rush and mess something up that would add cost and time to the project. I had been watching some how-to videos and familiarized myself with everything but as a precaution I had my laptop on the counter while I put everything together. The lower receiver went together very nicely. I had some issues with how to install some roll pins in (bolt catch and trigger guard) but they made their way in. I was very fortunate to have gotten a great lower receiver vice block from Squirrel Daddy. It fit the lower like a glove and it didn't budge at all when I was installing the buffer tube assembly.

One word of caution though, be sure to lay out all the parts if you can. Either have a picture of the parts or label them because when you buy a lower parts kit they come all mixed in together with no rhyme or reason to their order. Mine came in three different little bags, one containing all the springs, one having the pins, and the other having all the trigger group parts. On accident I used a take down pin detent on the selector switch and almost sheared it in half. I was wondering why I couldn't switch it from fire to safe until I looked through my parts and found the right one.

As for the upper receiver, Everything went smoothly but I did had some issues with the parts I ordered. My upper receiver was stripped so I had to install the forward assist and ejection door assemble which was a piece of cake. I also had a Badger Ordnance Tac Latch to install that gave me more grief than expected. I think I had more trouble with that roll pin than anything else. I almost gave up on it but it all worked out, and I am glad it did  because having that Tac Latch makes charging the bolt pretty easy. Like I said, everything was going fine until I started to mess with the barrel and gas system. The barrel nut took a lot more torquing that I expected, but once it was on it was on. I hope I don't have to mess with that for a long time. Once that was installed the only things left were the gas block/tube and muzzle device. Those parts were the last parts to arrive so I was pretty eager to finish the build. I installed the gas block and then went to attach the gas tube and I was missing the roll pin. I checked all my bags and boxes and either it wasn't shipped with the gas tube or gas block, or I unknowingly tossed it. This turned out to be the biggest problem I had, which in retrospect wasn't the biggest problem you could have putting together an AR. I called all around town to the local shops and I found one shop that had them. I went and the gunsmith was pretty rude saying that he would have to see the gas block to make sure it fit and he charges at least $25 for gunsmith work. Why the hell would I pay someone $25 to install a 0.30 cent roll pin? I took my upper receiver in to the shop to see if he would bring one out to the counter to see if it fit but he wasn't in that day and none of the other people working there would go into his shop to look. If you work in a gun store shouldn't you know something about gun parts, especially the AR platform? Anyway, they lost some future business from me and anyone who asks me about them. So I was heading home and decided to make a detour to a chain outdoor store and as luck would have it, they had a complete pin replacement set for sale. It had every pin you could think of that an AR needed. Needless to say I got my gas tube roll pin and a back up set of pins.

After that drama I am happy to say that everything is assembled and ready to go. It is looking like it might snow here in the next few days so I do not know when I will be able to get out to shoot it. I am going to ask around to see if there is an indoor range that allows rifles without having to use frangible ammunition. Since I have a compensator with lots of tiny gas ports, it is not a good idea to shoot frangible ammo because it could break up and mess up the compensator.

Here is a picture of the final product:

It is very balanced and feels very good when shouldered. The center of gravity on it is right behind the front take down pin, so doesn't feel barrel heavy or stock heavy. I think if I stuck with the MOE stock I got with the lower build kit then it might be barrel heavy because the STR stock has a better heft to it. I had a great time researching, shopping, and building this rifle. I can say that I am hooked. This one was a little on the expensive side with all the upgrades but well worth it. My next build will probably be a traditional carbine setup with some upgraded furniture (grip/stock/fore end).

The waiting game...

I cannot handle the waiting game. To help pass the time I have been watching some videos on how to assemble the upper and lower receivers just to make sure everything goes as planned. Earlier this week I got a bunch of shipping confirmations for the parts I ordered and everything is on its way except for my muzzle break and gas block. For some reason they are taking forever to process. Anywho, I should be up and running early next week. My vice blocks and tools are probably going to be the last things delivered so the real wait is on them. As I was looking through some tutorials I came across a paracord modification for the dust covers of a PMAG. The pull tab on the dust covers has a little eyelet that is big enough to run a gutted length of paracord. So I took some extra black paracord that I had lying around and gave it a shot. I ran a little through and tied it off with a lanyard knot complements of a Stormdrane tutorial. I have used that knot in the past with other paracord stuff and ends up looking really nice. So here are some pictures of how it turned out.

Needless to say, this makes taking the dust covers a lot easier than before. Probably not the most necessary thing in the world, but if you have some time to kill and some extra paracord then you are good to go. I haven't tried these in any types of carriers but they fit nicely in my range bag and the paracord doesn't snag at all. Plus you can loop them on something in your range bag or whatever when they are not on the magazines. 

Complete Parts List

I finally found some barrel and gas system parts that I liked and finished ordering everything. Hopefully things will start coming in toward the end of the week and early next week. I would love to be able to assemble everything this weekend, but we will see. So now that I have everything ready to go I will list everything for this project.

Upper Receiver Portion:
LAR upper receiver
PSA charging handle
Badger Ordinance Tactical Latch
RGUNS NiB BCG
Troy VTAC Extreme 13" Rail
16" Rainier Arms SS Match Barrel - .223 Wylde chamber
YHM micro gas block
Rainier Arms SS mid length gas tube
Spike's Tactical Dynacomp Extreme Short Compensator
Magpul MBUS front and rear sights
Magpul AFG2 (taken from my shotgun)

Lower Receiver Portion:
LAR Skeleton-ized lower receiver
PSA MOE build kit (milspec)
- MOE Stock
- MOE Grip
- MOE Trigger Guard
- Buffer tube assembly
- LPK
Magpul PMAGs (30 rd w/ Ranger Plates) x3

There she is folks. I really can't wait until everything gets here. I feel great about my purchases and for the most part I stayed with my budget. I only went over around 80-100 bucks which isn't bad when dealing with building a custom AR. There are so many options and upgrades out there that you could easily spend thousands of dollars building the "ultimate" rifle. I will admit that some pieces may be replaced soon after depending on how they all fit together. I am mainly speaking about the stock. The MOE seems to have a very small profile for a cheek rest and I would much rather have something like the new STR stock, but the PSA lower build kit was an amazing deal. So maybe I will use it for a while and see how it fits. I can always sell the MOE stock and put that money towards the STR. Our local news station has a great online classifieds ad system.

Aside from that there are some additional "accessories" that I wouldn't mind acquiring along the way. Most are small things that aren't completely necessary for normal functionality and don't cost a lot but do add up when buying them all at once. I am thinking about Magpul's B.A.D. lever, some KNS anti-rotation pins (Mod 2),  Magpul A.S.A.P. latch plate, MOE grip core for CR123 batteries, Mission Spec IAS sling, and then some more magazines, either PMAGs in FDE, Lancer translucent magazines, or even Troy BattleMags. My birthday is around the corner so maybe that will help get some of these non-essentials added to the build.

I am sticking with the iron sights for now because I want to become very familiar with shooting from that platform before I make the move to adding an optic. Because this is a multipurpose type AR I want an optic that can bridge the gap between a reflex sight and a scope. I can think of two different setups that can achieve this - either use a holographic sight with a secondary magnifier (usually a 3x) or use a 1-4x scope. I like the open eyes sight picture with the holographic sights but their price tag is downright brutal. For a good sight you are looking at 500ish minimum for the sight and and another 400ish minimum for magnifier. That doesn't even include mounts (ridiculous). The other method is using a small 1-4x scope, which are becoming very popular. At their lowest setting they act like a holographic sight but it is difficult to use the open eyes sighting. One other benefit is the variable zoom. The zoom can be changed from no magnification up to 4x and anything in between. You aren't limited to one single magnification power. Their price tag is lower with higher end scopes being in the 600-1000 range, mid range ones being around 500, and some very nice entry ones in the 200-400 range. They use normal scope rings which can be cheaper than proprietary holographic mounts.

I am really pleased with how everything has come together so far. I have found some great deals that have kept costs down while still getting everything that I wanted with this build. I will keep this updated with everything as they start to trickle in.

AR-15!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok so i am very excited to start building my AR. This will be my first ever build and I can't wait. Because there are thousands of different setups imaginable, I wanted to do something that would bridge some gaps and be more of a multi-use gun. I love competitive shooting and wouldn't mind getting into something like that locally, I love being outdoors and hunting, and I love shooting at the range with friends and family. Now, taking all that into consideration, there are a few ways of making a rifle that can easily do all three. Looking at the first, the gun needs to be lightweight but accurate. This means a lightweight frame/furniture and a good barrel. Secondly, the gun needs to be optic friendly and accurate. Lastly it needs to be comfortable to shoot lots of rounds at a time and easy to clean after the long range sessions. With all these in mind, I think I have come up with a great combination. Here is a list of parts that I am using:

LAR Skeleton-ized Lower Receiver
Magpul MOE grip and stock
LAR Upper receiver
RGUNS NiB Bolt Control Group
Troy VTAC Extreme 13" Rail
Magpul MBUS front and rear sights

Details:
LAR Skeleton-ized Lower Receiver and A3/M4 Upper
I looked around for a while online at several different lowers and they all seemed basically the same, except for external writing/designs. I was at a gun show here in Utah today and I came across one vendor that was local to Utah. They are known for their 50 cal rifles, but they also make AR parts. They had a bunch of lowers for sale and I asked what they looked like because at this point I wanted something that looked cool. They guy handed me two different generic types and then he handed me the skeleton-ized one. It was a limited run and wouldn't be available for a while afterwards. It was priced reasonably so I went about my business looking around but it kept popping into my mind. It was lightweight and I didn't have to order it and go through that whole process. So I went back and picked it up with a matching upper receiver. The uppers they had were standard and at a very good price too. So 10 minutes later after some paperwork I had in my hands the primary building blocks of an AR-15.

Magpul MOE furniture:
Palmetto State Armory has a great deal with a lower build kit. This is a budget build at heart so whenever I can save some money, I have to do it. They provide a complete lower build kit including the stock assembly and stock. They have the standard A2 grip and M4 stock, but I opted for the Magpul MOE kit which includes their MOE grip stock and trigger guard. This will give me everything I need to complete the stripped lower receiver.

RGUNS NiB BCG:
I really want a low maintenance gun (I guess I could have gone for an AK47, but where is the fun in that?) and anything that will help with that is a must. Nickel Boron coating is a new firearm coating that boasts easier cleaning and limited lubing of moving parts. I looked at the several different products and their reviews and there wasn't a single negative comment. I found a good deal with RGUNS and their BCG which is both MPI tested and Shot peened, and then coated by Fail Zero with NiB. I am probably still going to lube the working parts, but I hope it lives up to the hype.

Troy VTAC Extreme 13" rail
This is a lightweight rifle length rail system. I wanted a forend to cover the mid length gas system and give me something to hold onto. I like the thumb over bore grip shooting method and I already have a Magpul AFG2 to go with the rail. I like the VTAC because it just has the single top rail with three smaller movable rail sections. I don't want the extra weight of unused rails and it gives it a streamlined look. It uses a proprietary barrel nut which is nice because I don't have to buy a standard barrel nut wrench because they send one of theirs along with the rail. One last thing that I like about is is that because of its length, it gives a good sight picture with iron sights. I don't plan on using an optic for a while, so I will be sporting the irons for a while and I want the best setup I can have.

Magpul MBUS
There are better sights (more expensive) out there but at the price and quality of products coming out of Magpul these days, I will gladly buy them and use them. The new Gen 2 MBUS's have a lower profile when folded which is nice when I will be using optics.

These parts are what I have already bought/ordered. The only things left are related to the barrel and gas system. I still haven't found exactly what I want, but hopefully I will soon because I am terrible with waiting. I want a barrel with a mid length gas system because it has a softer feel when shooting. I really don't want a lightweight barrel because I want something with a little bit more accuracy and endurance. I am looking at some stainless steel match barrels right now, but i can't decide on a SS or a CHF Cold Hammer Forged barrel. Also I can't decide on a muzzle device. I want a compensator not a flash suppressor. I don't want to spend the 150 on a Battle Comp, but the Spikes Tactical Dynacomp does not kill the muzzle flash like a Battle Comp does and it has a pretty large muzzle blast. I also don't want a single port comp because I don't want to deafen those around me when I shoot. Maybe I can scrimp and pinch my pennies and get the Battle Comp.

Anywho, this is just the tip of the iceberg. I should be getting some parts in this coming week so when they do I will start assembling everything.

Neglected...

Has it really been over 3 1/2 months since I wrote something on this? Dang, well I guess life did get a little crazy after October. I had family come in for Thanksgiving and class really got out of hand. Then there was Christmas, which wasn't that crazy, but it was just busy. Now that all the major holidays are out of the way and I am comfortably back in the swing of things with school I can hopefully maintain a timely schedule regarding this blog.

Here is some exciting news that has developed over the hiatus...I am finally building my AR!! Our tax return this year was very generous and I have been on good behavior for the past few months. I already have a few pieces of the puzzle and most of the remaining parts are either ordered or I am waiting for things to come back into stock. Exciting times! I also have some new additions to my shotgun - nothing big, but worth noting. I added a ERGO sling mount and a Streamlight Polytac LED light in an offset mount attached to the forend. Everything fits like a glove and is very sturdy and nice. I am going to start a new post about my AR because this is just a "hey, hows it going. I know its been a while but..." type post. I will get into the details more in the next post.